Personally im happy with our starting 17 when all fit and ready, but a knock to either half or nine early in the season and i think were gonna struggle for top 4. There are a few people on here knocking Mcollrum and to be honest i cant see the way he plays offering much in attack, so putting Tommy at 9 will see us putting Lockers at half with the cover in the back of the pack. Wayne seems to have gone with size this season with the likes of Hock and Mossop putting weight on. Is this the right way. The way i see it you don't need big forwards now with the amount of tacklers in the ruck. Im not convinced this season even if its just after one game.

There's no easy games in this league this year and complacency like Friday night could cost us a few results.

Regards

Connor.

Wigan did not turn up at all.

We played you on Sunday afternoon...if your guys had been running around since Friday night they would be knackered.

Weve got to start tommy at 9. If I was wane I would give powell/mellor their chance in the halves, we are going to need to play them sooner rather than later because with tommy going at the end of the year if they have not had their chance they will be incredibly raw in their first season. I also feel that Farrell has to be starting second row, he looked alot better than hock who I thought was shocking in the second row yesterday he still has he brainfarts offloads saying that he was better when he came on at prop.

Did anyone else not think Richards looked a bit dodgy on the wing yesterday? He didnt seem to be on the smae wavelength as Carmont all day.
Looking at the team at the minute I would like to see something like this for next week.

1. Sam Tomkins
2. Josh Charnley
3. Darrell Goudling
4. George Carmont
5. Pat Richards
6. Brett Finch
7. Sam Powell
8. Lee Mossop
9. Tommy Leuluai
10. Jeff Lima
11. Harrison Hansen
12. Liam Farrell
13. Sean O'Loughlin

14. Eric Lauaki
15. Gareth Hock
16. Mike McIllorum
17. Chris Tuson

I think our kicking game needs to be worked on. Not one of them could get a kick right. Finch & tommy isn't the right partnership. Bring in Sam Powell

We got to have a game plan with a plan B without this we will look as clueless as we did Sunday and in many games which we go behind early or are at half time.

Wane as I thought originally would be and thats tatically lacking.

He has talked a lot since getting the job saying new fast and skill style. None of which was present on sunday to me it looked the same way as under Madge but the with the squad not having the pre-season which madge would give them.

Fitness was a massive concern for me on Sunday and also control of the ruck was none existant seems Wane as got rid of the third man in the tackle too which has caused us to lose control. Think selection is going to be Wane downfall this season, I think he has a few players who are like his untouchables and will be ever present this year. Tuson, Flower, Eric and Mcllorum.

My 17 would be

Tomkins
Josh
Gelling
George
Pat
Finch
Tommy
Mossop
Mcllorum
Prescott
Hock
Hansen
Lockers

Subs
Mellor
Lima
Fielden
Farrell/Eric

Early doors it all looks a bit Brian Noble but it is just that, early doors.

Never convinced by the Wane appointment to be honest but I hope I am proven wrong.

Recruitment not great short term, we still need a hooker and a half badly next year, not bringing one in this year I feel will put significant pressure on Wane.

To be fair I don't think there are many in RL circles who were/are convinced. Watching and listening to him he doesn't come across well at all and I wonder how effective he is at managing the players with such a poor communication style. It's early days though so wait and see - every year since I can remember there's a massive over reaction to a first round defeat from supporters of every club. it may take some time for him to make his mark with the players and no matter what he says he will find the transition tough.

Only my personal view but I never felt he was a good appointment and I certainly don't think he's a long term option for Wigan.

If you are playing as poorly 5 games in that's when you need to get a bit twitchy, not now.

Ill stick my neck on the line. Shaun Wane will fail at Wigan. I hope im wrong because he loves the club and hes waited his turn and i like him as a person, hes a straight talking chap. This isnt just on yesterdays result but that has strengthened my belief.

To me Shaun talks an excellent game but does not have what it takes technically to be a head coach at a club like Wigan. I also see slight signs of panic already in his interview after yesterdays game. After the Salford friendly he came out and said he was disappointed and we'll fix it quickly and blamed poor execution. Again in his latest interview he blamed exactly the same things and promised to fix it. He had a certain worried look about him IMO. What happens if we lose to Leeds? Is he going to promise to fix it again? Can he handle the pressure?

He seems too set in his ways and determined to make some kind of impact immediately that isnt really needed. Hes tried to fix something that wasnt really broken and just needed gradually tweaking.

Not helping him is the fact weve lost some very good experienced players and replaced them basically with 4 reserve graders. Add to that we lost Gleeson and Riddell beginning of last year and never replaced them either and it doesnt look good IMO.

I still think our biggest problem was the fact we never suitably replaced Gleeson and Riddell, they were so influential in that 2010 title run. I'm sorry but I don't see Goulding as a worthy replacement, I hope to hell he proves me wrong and will happily admit it if he does, but I think sadly the best thing Goulding ever did was have Gleeson on his left.

We did well to hide that fact last year, but seriously... how many results did we have to 'grind' out last year, a lot of games could have gone either way and our season would have looked pretty dire in comparison. (I know we played well in CC, I'm talking league here) So again we loose more players end of last season and I fear we won't be able to cope and hide the missing factors this year. Not to mention... Anyone care to hazard a guess where our kicking game will come from this year? We need a 7 with a top drawer kicking game, Leuluai is not this player, he is a world class 9 and should be playing 9!

I've not seen the under 20's so tell me, does either Mellor or Powell have a kicking game that can be developed to be Wigan standard?

I'm not basing all this on Sunday's performance, these were my concerns before the first game and they are still my concerns now.

Powell's kicking game is second to none at academy level, but he hasn't been kicking that well during pre-season games. It's probably one of the strongest parts of his game.

Mellor's kicking game has also improved a lot over the last year or so. He's not as consistent as Powell but can sometimes be more willing to take risks, has a very accurate cross field kick from right to left and I also recall a very clever little 'misdirected' kick in an academy game last year where he looked to be aiming for the right corner only to side foot it towards the posts for a chasing player to score.

Expect all kicking ability to have disappeared from their game within a couple of first team appearances. I just can't understand where this terrible kicking game has come from. Even Deacon was below par.

If we chop and change after the first game I think that would be a tad harsh, Id tell the players who under performed where they went wrong and give them a chance to rectify it against Leeds, if they fail then drop them. Dropping a player after the first game of the season would knock their confidence a great deal. Same team for me with a lot of work put in on the kicking side of things with Sam taking the role of long distance kicking.

Its too early to write off Wane and his ideas. The recruitment has been based around the pack with only Gelling and and the academy signing from Wales to bolster the backs. I think the pack will improve through out the season and will be rotated to rest players. It is the back line that looks sluggish in comparison to Rhinos and Wire.